The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Health and Wellbeing Board met on 6 October 2025, to discuss several key reports and strategies. The board approved the publication of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, and members also reviewed the annual reports from the Safeguarding Adults Board and the Safeguarding Children Partnership, as well as the Better Care Fund Quarter 1 report. The board also discussed the draft Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy and planned further stakeholder engagement.

Safeguarding Annual Reports

The board reviewed the annual reports from the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Safeguarding Adults Board and the BCP Safeguarding Children Partnership.

The BCP Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2024-2025 highlights the board's work in preventing abuse, harm and neglect of adults with care and support needs. The report details the board's structure, budget, and strategic plan, as well as key achievements from the past year. One of the key achievements mentioned in the report was agreeing protocols with HM Coroner for Dorset. The report also includes details from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs), including SAR Edward, which examined a case of cuckooing¹ and made recommendations for professionals. The BCP Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024-2025 outlines the work of the partnership in implementing new safeguarding arrangements and fulfilling its statutory responsibilities. The report provides an overview of the partnership's priorities, including violence and exploitation, children's mental health and emotional wellbeing, and child neglect. It also highlights the work of the partnership's sub-groups and its approach to independent scrutiny and multi-agency safeguarding training.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

The board approved the publication of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) and Dorset. The PNA is a statutory document that assesses the need for pharmaceutical services in the area and is used by NHS Dorset to inform commissioning decisions.

The PNA concluded that there are no current or future gaps in pharmaceutical service provision in the area. The Steering Group, who developed the PNA, reviewed current population needs, future population growth, and current pharmaceutical services. They considered factors such as accessibility, choice of provider, and housing growth.

The PNA also considered the needs of specific populations, such as asylum seekers and refugees, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and people who are homeless.

A statutory consultation was carried out to support the development of the PNA, and the responses were considered and incorporated into the final document.

Better Care Fund Report

The board retrospectively approved the Better Care Fund (BCF) 2025-2026 Quarter 1 Report. The BCF is a key delivery vehicle for providing person-centred integrated care with health, social care, housing, and other public services. The report provides an overview of the BCF's performance in the first quarter of the year and includes information on national conditions, performance metrics, and expenditure.

The report indicated that BCP Council is on track to meet 2025/26 targets for:

• Emergency admissions to hospital for people aged 65+
• Average length of discharge delay for all acute adult patients
• Long-term support needs for people aged 65+ met by admission to residential and nursing care homes

Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy

The board received an update on the progress towards the development of the Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area. The draft strategy sets out the board's priorities for improving health and wellbeing in the area and reducing health inequalities.

The board agreed to undertake further engagement with stakeholders to refine the strategy and bring it back for approval in January 2026.

The draft strategy is based upon work that has already been undertaken, including a review of the latest data contained within the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). The JSNA data was used to identify the following priority themes:

• Children and Young People
• Community Mental Health Transformation
• Supporting Adults to Live Well and Independently
• Housing
• Cost of Living and Poverty

These themes have subsequently been refined as:

• Starting Well
• Mental Wellbeing
• Living & Ageing Well
• Healthy Places & Communities

The strategy also takes into account the NHS 10 Year Plan and the Neighbourhood Health Programme, which aim to shift care to the community, promote digital access, focus on prevention, reform the workforce, and improve funding and transparency.

The board agreed to adopt the Poverty Truth Commission Access to Services Principles to underpin its work, including consistent and connected services, a whole-person approach, accessible services, dependable relationships, and treating everyone with dignity and humanity.